1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to automatic banking machines which may be installed at locations accessible to customers for dispensing money and receiving deposits. More particularly the invention relates to machines for receiving deposits of individual checks or sheets of paper money as well as receiving deposits contained within deposit envelopes.
2. Prior Art
Banking machines with deposit mechanisms capable of receiving envelopes are well known in the prior art. Some of these prior art envelope depositories include a programmable wire matrix or ink jet printer to print sequence numbers or other information on the envelope as it is being deposited.
The IBM 4730 Personal Banking Machine has an envelope depository and in addition has a separate individual check depository. The individual check depository receives each individual check, transports the check past a magnetic ink character read head, prints audit trail information on the check and places the check into a deposit tray. Each of these separate depositories require an input gate to control articles being placed into the depository and they each require transport belts or rollers to handle the items being deposited. Each depository also requires its own programmable printer if deposited items are to be printed with audit information.
In addition the individual check reading depository must have a document aligning mechanism to ensure that the magnetic ink characters pass under the read head in adequate registration with their expected path in order to permit recognizing the characters. Because checks come in varying widths and lengths, it is not possible to control check alignment entirely by the shape of the input gate. If a narrow check being inserted and it is placed in the middle of the deposit opening, alignment rolls must be provided to move the check to one side against a registration edge so that the document magnetic rnk characters pass under the read head. It a short transport path is provided to obtain a compact depository, the transport may not be able to move the document sideways far enough to provide proper registration for reading and the document then must be returned to the user for rernsertion.